Cooling System for Body Armour

ABSTRACT

A system for providing streaming air to evaporate perspiration from a wearer of personal armour. The system incorporates a set of voluminous layers for wearing beneath the armour, one of which is enveloped voluminous layer. The envelope is perforated in the direction of said wearer, such that an air blower forces air into the perforation and thence onto the body of the wearer.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of personal armour worn byindividuals as protection against projectiles, bullets and the like.More specifically the present invention deals with measures for coolingthe body of the wearer covered by such protective armour.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Excessive heat produced by the human body is dissipated by perspiration.The evaporation of the perspiration takes up heat from the body, thusproducing a cooling effect. Personal armour typically blocks the flow ofair around the body such that in hot conditions perspiration cannot beutilized efficiently to cool the body. The wearing of personal armourpromotes the build-up of excessive heat at and around the surface areaof the wearer. This observation is evident but stressed if the wearer isengaged in physical activity such as walking, running or working. Underhot environmental conditions the build-up of heat may be quick andpermanent. The excessive build-up of heat at the body surface causesinconvenience to the wearer of the armour and in extreme cases of buildup of heat, the physiological make up of the body can be damaged. It istherefore highly advantageous for wearers of personal armour to be ableto relieve themselves of heat stress, to enhance their physiologicalfunctioning and protect against damage in extreme cases of build-up ofheat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional isometric view of a set of layers of theinvention lying beneath the armour layer;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional isometric view of a layer set of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic isometric view of the enveloped layer of theinvention indicating air flow through the system;

FIG. 4 is a schematic armoured outfit showing the a folded-up cornerdisplaying the layered structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a set of voluminous layers isdisposed between the wearer of personal armour and his/her garments orbody. The set is described schematically with reference to FIG. 1. Layer20 represents the armour layer which is drawn for the sake of simplicityas a unitary layer but in reality may possess a compound structure.Layer 22 is the outermost layer of the set of the invention and layer 24is the body contact layer, which juxtaposes the wearer's own garments orexposed body. Of the set of voluminous layers, layer 22 is enveloped byan impervious shell as is described schematically with reference to FIG.2 to which reference is now made. In a cross sectional view, layer 22juxtaposes body contact layer 24. Shell 26 envelopes layer 22, howevernot as shown, the shell completely wraps the layer. In more particularreference to the issue of relationships between the personal dress ofthe wearer and the body armour, there is no significance as to which isworn beneath.

In FIG. 3 to which reference is now made, the enveloped layer isdescribed schematically, such that its function can be easily explained.Layer 22 is shown with its side juxtaposing the body contact layer ontop. An air blower or pump 34 takes up ambient air through air intake36. A hose 38 connects the air pump 34 with the enveloped layer 22. Airis driven through hose 38 to be forced into enveloped layer 22. The air40 taken by the air blower is pushed through hose 38 into envelopedlayer 22 and out through perforations such as perforation 42. In someembodiment an air hose is not used, and the air blower is connecteddirectly to the enveloped layer. Air is forced out through theperforations as indicated symbolically by arrow such as arrow 44. Theair driven out of the perforations enters the body contact layer (notshown) which is a voluminous layer, allowing further spread of the airstream to bathe the body and collect perspiration. In some embodiments abody contact layer is not applied. In a typical embodiment of theinvention, the air pump or blower is powered by one or a plurality ofbatteries. The batteries are either packed together with the air pump orplaced in a different location, with an appropriate cable connectingbetween the batteries and the air pump. Conveniently, the batteries arerechargeable so as to allow long hours of use with occasional charge.The technical properties of the air blower must be such that the streamof air is strong enough to allow sufficient flow in and around the areaof the wearer's body covered by the layers of the invention. To keepboth the body contact layer and the outermost layer, volume providingelements are used to keep the layers from collapsing and forming kinksand cramps. Such elements may be foam elements, fibers, threedimensional net, mechanical spacers or any other volume forming element.

A personal armour outfit implementing the system of the invention isdescried schematically in FIG. 4 to which reference is now made. Outfit50 is shown with a bottom corner folded up such that the layers areexposed. The external, armour layer 54 is at the top, external to theother layers. Beneath, layer 56 is the layer in which the air is forcedinitially, expelled from the air pump. Innermost is layer 58. In thisdrawing the air pump and hose are not shown

1. A system for providing streaming air to evaporate perspiration from awearer of a personal armour, wherein a set of voluminous layers is wornbeneath said armour, said set comprising: at least one envelopedvoluminous layer, and wherein the shell enveloping said layer isperforated in the direction of said wearer, and an air blower forforcing air into said outer enveloped layer.
 2. A system for providingstreaming air to evaporate perspiration from a wearer as in claim 1further comprising a body contact layer between said enveloped layer andsaid wearer.
 3. A system for providing streaming air to evaporateperspiration from a wearer as in claim 1 further comprising an air hoseto connect said air blower with said enveloped layer.
 4. A method forcooling the skin of a wearer of personal armour wherein air is forcedfrom an air blower to an enveloped voluminous layer disposed beneathsaid personal armour, and wherein said air is forced out of said layerin the direction of the body of said wearer, providing a flow of airover said skin of said wearer.
 5. A method for cooling the skin of awearer of personal armour as in claim 4, and wherein said air forced outof said enveloped layers enters a voluminous body contact layer beforebeing applied to said wearer.
 6. A system for providing streaming air toevaporate perspiration from a wearer as in claim 1 wherein said at leastone enveloped voluminous layer contains volume providing elements.
 7. Asystem for providing streaming air to evaporate perspiration from awearer as in claim 6 wherein said volume providing elements are anyselected from a group consisting of foam, fibers, three dimensional netand mechanical spacers.
 8. A system for providing streaming air toevaporate perspiration from a wearer as in claim 2 wherein said bodycontact layer contains volume providing elements.
 9. A system forproviding streaming air to evaporate perspiration from a wearer as inclaim 8 wherein said volume providing elements are any selected from agroup consisting of foam, fibers, three dimensional net and mechanicalspacers.